A copy of Wilfred Owen’s discharge letter is among many treasures in the Memory Box. It’s not exactly poetry but that letter brought the poet from a medical centre in Wales to Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh where he met Siegfried Sassoon in 1917.With such tangible stuff is history told – and retold through the extraordinary work of Disability History Scotland. Continue reading “One Last Push: the final battle of WW1?”

On a drizzly, grey day in South Queensferry there’s a sudden beam of childhood sunshine in the sheltered housing common room. Over coffee and biscuits we’re flicking through ideas for a new recipe book of old family favourites and it stirs a powerful pot of memories: scrumping for apples in the gardens of big houses, clambering over dykes in search of brambles, fishing for watercress in cold, clear streams, pulling turnips from a farmer’s field on the way home for tea. Continue reading “HenPower stirs a melting pot of memories”

In honour of Scottish and German lives lost in the First World War, a service of remembrance with a difference takes place in Victoria Primary on Tuesday 11 November. The Last Post will sound for two former pupils who died at sea in 1914 and then the choir will lead singing of Silent Night in both English and German in memory of German sailors cared for in Edinburgh hospitals or buried in local cemeteries after the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915. Thank you to Duncan Bremner, for this story. Continue reading “The Last Post: memorial service at Leith Victoria Primary School”

On a clear day you can see a long way from Lesley Hinds’ office window: across the city, down to Princes Street and over to Fife. We took a few minutes to enjoy the view as we gathered for our first meeting of the shadow scheme (Opening Doors to Democracy 2014). So much of what happens in the streets below is shaped by decisions taken in the City Chambers. Yet how many people know how those decisions are made or who makes them?

Happy Monday everyone. This is a big week for Leith Open Space. We are launching this year’s shadow scheme, Opening Doors to Democracy 2014, with a really great group of participants keen to discover what city councillors and MSPs do all day.

News of a really interesting Leith event has just landed in my inbox. An invitation for local people to get involved in local archaeology and street naming. Sounds a great opportunity to find out more about the history that lies under our feet – and how to influence street names of today! Wednesday, 6 November Thomas Morton Hall 6.45pm